you have to be at a-support level to get my backstory
by lime green lily
Summary: C-S Support Conversation of Hoshido's High Prince Ryoma and his enigmatic mercenary tactician, Mao.
1. c support

**Title:** You have to be at A-Support to get my backstory

 **Summary:**

 _C-S Support Conversation of Hoshido's High Prince Ryoma and his enigmatic mercenary tactician, Mao._

 _"You have bad experience with nobles, I see." Ryoma said._

 _Morgan didn't deny it. She did have bad experience with Lucina but she never generalized before. Damn, Morgan, mother will be disappointed in you._

 _"Sorry but you have to be at A-support level to get my backstory."_

 _"What?"_

 _"What?"_

 _"What?"_

* * *

 **C-Support**

* * *

Ryoma stood alone, looking over the camp with resting men. His heart was disheartened that this was what it came to be. All he wanted, all he fought for, was the return of his middle sibling. And now, they were gone with Sakura and Takumi. What an awful brother he must have been for them to leave his side.

"Yo!" As if called by his dark thoughts, Mao appeared before him, fire playing on her open palm. The light illuminated her in the dark of the night. "As a tactician, I ought to advise you that it is unwise to brood in the night without telling your retainers."

"How did you find me?" He asked.

She gave a teasing grin, "Why, I merely followed the sound of your brooding from way over yonder," a small laugh escaped her lips as she sat down beside him. "You were projecting quite loudly, your royal highness, try brooding quieter"

He felt a smile tugged on his lips. That was the mercenary he has come to befriend - uncaring of the difference in status. His crown is a mere ornament to her. He is a man she had judged and named a friend and a leader before he is a prince. She had always been a breath of fresh air he never knew he needed.

"If I know how," he said, "I would have brooded quieter then."

She frowned, "Ya, it's not fun when you just accept my teasing like so."

"Sorry," he said, "I'm not in the mood for a banter though."

She pursed her lips before saying, "You know, I do talk a lot and sometimes I tend to bulldoze you but I am a good listener."

His head snapped up. Though a trickster at heart, he knew her to be a good person.

"I was wondering if I was the reason my sibling has left." Mao was his friend, he realized. Not a retainer to be held at arm's length or a sibling he needed to be strong for. She was a person he trusted, for some odd reason.

"Now that is a load of pegasus dung," she scoffed."I mean, maybe you ought to have listened to your siblings before you went all ga-ga over your long lost sibling 'betraying' you. I do think it's about time you stop for a moment and, I don't know, listen to them over playing dress up here in Cheve."

"Mao-"

"Yes, I know, I know," Mao made a talking gesture with her hand, "'Not my place, yadda-yadda, super important princely spying, resistance as allies', more yaddas'. I've heard them all, but let me finish."

"Go on," he fell silent.

Mao took a deep breath, "your sibling made a choice. They chose neither side and that one isn't your fault. They didn't choose you because they love their other family more, they did it because they love you - the family they have forgotten about but still embraced them the same - just as much as they love the family they found in Nohr."

He made a face at that. He likely did not see the situation just as she does or even accept it just yet. He loves his sibling. He lost them for far too long as had them slip through his grasp just as he found them once more.

"We are their true family," he whispered.

"Family found is no less than family of the blood," Mao found herself reciting. It was something from a long forgotten memory by now but she found herself taking solace into the bits she can remember.

Ryoma remained silent.


	2. b support

**Title:** You have to be at A-Support to get my backstory

 **Summary:**

 _C-S Support Conversation of Hoshido's High Prince Ryoma and his enigmatic mercenary tactician, Mao._

 _"You have bad experience with nobles, I see." Ryoma said._

 _Morgan didn't deny it. She did have bad experience with Lucina but she never generalized before. Damn, Morgan, mother will be disappointed in you._

 _"Sorry but you have to be at A-support level to get my backstory."_

 _"What?"_

 _"What?"_

 _"What?"_

* * *

 **B support**

* * *

It was an accident that Mao happened upon Ryoma that night. She was going to ride out north to follow up on a sighting of a casanova who partially matched her brother's description. The only trouble was that there was also sightings of Nohrian army, so she needed to sneak in there as a random traveller and not as a Hoshidan sellsword/selltome/selltactician.

"What are you up to now, Mao?" She stumbled at the sound of Ryoma's voice.

Mao turned, surprised that she failed to hear him and realized that he didn't wear his usual armor. It was odd, and oddly flattering, that he would let a nameless mercenary he once distrusted, be honored to see him at his vulnerable state.

Well, he still has his sword tucked on his side but extra points for the trust.

She watched his brows furrow as he focused on her, at her father's old torn cloak clasped close over the Hoshidan clothing she was given and the bag of tomes at her side and the spear at her back.

"..." She was unsure how to answer that.

"Are you running away?" Mao peeked to see his face thundered.

She stood straighter, indignation clear on her face, "How dare you presume so?" She glared. "I do not run from a promise. And I certainly gave you my word that I would help you get your siblings back home, didn't I?"

Ryoma's tense shoulders relaxed, "I know that. But it truly doesn't bring you into a good light that I see you traversing the dark with your pack instead of asleep like the rest of us, correct?"

Mao sighed, "There's new news on my brother's whereabouts. Well, there's rumours but no concrete evidence but I'm off to investigate it."

"Why are you off on your own then?" He asked. "I made a promise to you - I shall offer resources for your search. You have done all you could to help me regain my siblings, I won't let you down when you need me."

Mao pursed her lips, "You aren't letting me down. And while you did promise that, I also promised to protect you from harm. I'm your tactician. There's news of Nohr army around those parts, I can't let you use resources because of me."

"Then you plan to traverse the heart of the enemy alone?" He asked. "And you believe I would be a callous enough leader to allow my tactician to do such a foolish thing."

"Hey!" Mao cried out. "I am offended!"

"You ought to be," he said. "This is a stupid strategy. Without Saizo or Kagero by my side, you are my right hand. With this flawed strategy, you are putting my limb in danger."

Mao gasped, "are you guilt-tripping me?"

"Yes. Is it working?"

"Yes, you idiot, it is." She gritted her teeth. "I hate you so much."

"I know," he said. "We'll investigate this lead on your brother by our own terms - you and me, with everyone else."

Mao didn't know what to feel about that. For one, she was offended he didn't think she could do it alone but there was warmth in her belly at someone holding her back from jumping into danger.

Ryoma grasped her shoulder and said, "You're not alone in your search, Mao, not anymore."


	3. a support

**Title:** You have to be at A-Support to get my backstory

 **Summary:**

 _C-S Support Conversation of Hoshido's High Prince Ryoma and his enigmatic mercenary tactician, Mao._

 _"You have bad experience with nobles, I see." Ryoma said._

 _Morgan didn't deny it. She did have bad experience with Lucina but she never generalized before. Damn, Morgan, mother will be disappointed in you._

 _"Sorry but you have to be at A-support level to get my backstory."_

 _"What?"_

 _"What?"_

 _"What?"_

* * *

 **A support**

* * *

Ryoma found Mao buried in her strategies. He could see the strain of the work on her back and found himself sitting beside his friend and colleague.

"Isn't it time for your break?" He says.

Mao jumps up, apparently she hadn't felt him sit beside her. She was too focused on her work and he knew immediately that she needed her rest. Mao, despite her loud and brash attitude, was paranoid enough that she felt anyone around her circle.

"What?" She asked.

"Your break? Isn't it time you take it?"

"Don't worry, I'm okay. I don't need a break."

He can see the lie in her words. It was clear in the strains on her face and the hunch on her back.

"I'm sorry," he looked away, knowing full well that her head swerved to face him. "I'm sorry our last quest to find your brother was another failure."

He turned to see the grimace in her face before she looked down to her notes. "Don't mind it too much. It's just our tenth false lead, there's still many more chance for me to find him."

There was a second of silence before he steeled himself. "You know," he started, "I know your brother as a cassanova, as a good swordsman, but you have not truly divulged much about it apart from those traits."

Mao blinked before a teasing smile spread on her tired face, "Are you trying to unlock my backstory? Are we close enough for that?

"Mao," he stressed her name.

She gave a soft chuckle, "I'm just joking. Of course, we're close enough for that." She smiled. "But I have no idea where to start."

"What is your brother like?" He asked. "Apart from being a casanova, what is he like? What does he like doing? How does he act with you?"

A smile spread on her face as she looked at him fully now, "My brother is absolutely adorable. I can hardly remember a time of my life without him." She paused here and chuckled as if a hidden joke was said between her words. "I am Papa's girl while he is a Mama's boy through and through. He is so much like mother, it's fun to tease him."

"Your mother," Ryoma said, "the one you commented is similar to my sister Sakura, correct? And your brother who flirts with anyone that moves? They're alike?"

Mao giggled, likely trying to imagine what he was trying to imagine. "Oh, they definitely are," she said. "My brother flirts a lot but he has the biggest heart I know. And I'm not just saying that because he's my brother."

"Of course not," Ryoma watched the way her face brightens when talking about her brother and felt a smile tugging on his own lips.

"For as far as I can remember," there was that humour in her eyes again, "my brother dotes on me. He protects me yet he never shackles me to his side. He lets me loose in the battlefield but I always know he has my back."

Ryoma could see the way the lines on her face lightens as she smiles, eyes staring in a faraway scene that dance in her mind. He found himself listening closely, trying to find similarities between their sibling relationship.

"I'm a" - here she pauses and purses her lips in deep thought - "bit of a bully."

Ryoma snorted. "Well, at the very least you can admit it."

"Hey!" She scowled at him.

"You said it first."

"You were supposed to say, 'of course not, Mao, you aren't a bully.'"

"You wanted me to lie?"

Mao rolled her eyes. "Moving on!" She huffed. "Back to my brother! I tease him a lot. I tease him because he is so easy to tease. He blushes so easily when you compliment him. I think that, for him, flirting is a way to break through his fear of people. By flirting with them, he has the control in the conversation but when he loses that control, he gets flustered. It's so fun to see him redden."

"What an awful sister you are," he sighs but the smile on his face makes it clear it was a jest without any offense meant.

Mao laughed, "But for some reason, my brother still adores me. He would hold my hand when I have nightmares or afraid of something. He's always there to make me laugh when I cry. He is the one person who has seen my darkness and still loves me despite it. He knows my flaws and has accepted it. He is the kind of person I strive to be - a person with a heart big enough for everyone."

Ryoma imagined the kind of brother the Mao he knows would love and respect. He must have been someone special, truly, to be able to elicit such wonderful praises from someone like Mao.

"You're pretty lucky to have a brother like him," he said.

She gave a grin, "I know."

"But," he mused. "He's also pretty lucky to have a sister like you who would travel all over a continent to find him."


End file.
